Of Courage
by Touch of Gray
Summary: He's gonna be a SeeD. He's gonna make his Grandpa real proud of him, and then he's gonna laugh in Seifer's face when he's a SeeD and Seifer's sweeping floors in a prison or something. [All dreams have to start somewhere, right? Zell, as a kid. One shot.]


_of_ **courage**

He wrinkles his nose in distaste when the door opens, and the smell reaches him. That hospital, way-too-clean smell of _sick_. He doesn't wanna be here, doesn't wanna find what's up ahead, but he doesn't have a choice. _He's your grandfather, Zell, you have to be here_.

Not biologically. Not that that matters any, because who knows where his real granddad is? And besides, Ma Dincht and Grandpa have been good to him, taken real good care of him. He coulda turned out worse. He heard that some of the kids - the ones no one wanted, like Seifer (too mean, he figures) or Squall (who would want a kid like Squall, anyway? He's too quiet.) - got sent off to this crazy kinda boot camp where they're gonna learn to be fighters. He figures he's gonna see them again (which isn't a really good thought) because he's gonna be one of those fighters, a SeeD.

Of course, they're probably gonna be ten times stronger than him, but who cares? He's a fast learner, that's what Ma says, and so does Grandpa -

Oops. Gettin' all caught up in his own head, when he's here to say goodbye to Grandpa. He's never seen anyone die before, and he really doesn't wanna. He kind of thinks that maybe, if he runs off right now and goes back home real fast and hides, that Grandpa will hang on a little longer, 'cause if you don't say goodbye, then they're not gonna leave, right?

Yeah, well, he tried that at the orphanage when Sefie had to go, and it didn't really work then, because by the time Cid found him, she had already left. Her foster parents weren't gonna wait on a little idiot kid to say goodbye. He thinks that she must be really really really sick of them by now, 'cause they seemed like real jerks when he saw them, all hoity-toity and stuffy types, so _proud_ of themselves to be takin' in some little orphan girl. He kinda wishes someone had told them to stuff it, because Sefie's too nice, and she'll just take it. He'd of given them a big punch, right in the gut.

He grins to himself at the thought of punching out a grown-up. Of course, then he'd get in trouble, but it woulda been _worth it_, 'cause when you hit grown-ups, they get all red in the face and mad, and it's really funny. Ma smacks him lightly on the hand, and tells him to hurry up. She's been worrying a lot lately, sayin' that there's no way they're gonna make it without Grandpa there to make the money, 'cause she doesn't make enough.

But that's okay. 'Cause he's gonna become a SeeD, and then she's never gonna need money, 'cause all he'll have to do is kill some guy for a bunch of gil, and she'll be fine for a _year_. 'Specially without him and Grandpa eatin' all the food. Heh, she'll be able to get fat or something. He always wanted a fat mama, 'cause they're always nicer and funnier.

He hasn't told her about him becomin' a SeeD yet, though. He doesn't think she'll like it, 'cause Grandpa was a soldier and thought merce-whatevers were the bad guys or something. He thinks it's not that bad, 'cause it's not always the bad guys that are gonna be payin' him. What if he gets paid to kill some sorta fairy-tale monster? Then he'd be the knight in shining armor, comin' to the rescue, and no one's gonna call him a wuss or a coward when he's killin' the dragon and savin' the damsel in distress (and she'd be pretty, and think he was just the coolest thing _ever_, and she'd be cool enough to beat up Seifer for him, 'cause Seifer's older and stronger, and he's scarier than the dragon, anyway.)

He's gonna be a SeeD. He's gonna make his Grandpa real proud of him, and then he's gonna laugh in Seifer's face when he's a SeeD and Seifer's sweeping floors in a prison or something.

And no one's ever gonna call him a coward again. _Never_.  
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(A/N: Wow, it started kind of normal, and then _descended_ into childhood. Uh, oops. Oh well. I wanted to play with writing in a young voice. And, by the way, anyone know how old the kids were when they scattered? I'm guessing something like 6 or 7... Which puts Zell around 8 here. Sounds good to me. Review!)


End file.
